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Wednesday, April 02, 2025

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Opinion

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 June 2024

Show coverage is hard work, but sometimes we make it harder on ourselves.

This year marked my second visit to the High End audio show, which was held May 9–12 in the ginormous Munich Order Center (MOC) in Munich, Germany. This is one of the largest audio shows in the world, and by many accounts, the most important. Coming anywhere close to seeing the whole thing in the four days it’s open requires an Olympian effort. Last year, Doug Schneider and I attempted to cover the show on our own. While we went balls-out to do so, in the end, we felt that it would be a good idea to rope in another writer so we could do better justice to this massive exhibition.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 May 2024

It’s a failing of mine. I’m impatient. And even at this stage of my reviewing career, I’m still excited when I receive new gear. Combined, those two traits are a recipe for disaster.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 April 2024

Van Halen’s first album is the greatest debut record of all time. Some may well not agree with this.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 March 2024

I swore to myself that it would never come to this. I promised myself I wouldn’t become a curmudgeon.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 February 2024

If you haven’t already, please nip over to SoundStage! Access and read Dennis Burger’s January editorial, where he explains that he’s a simple guy who would be happiest with a simple (albeit high-quality) system. However, as a reviewer, he needs a bunch of gear hanging around so that he can evaluate separates such as DACs, amps, and speakers. Then check out Dennis’s podcast on the same subject.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 January 2024

Now we’re getting to the nut of it. In my November editorial, I recounted the first step in adding digital playback to my main review system, which is in the basement listening room of my Toronto townhouse. Until then, that system had been analog only (or mostly analog). The first step was getting my Roon ROCK to pump out music through a Logitech Squeezebox Touch streamer to the secondary system on the main floor. Then in December, I started a deep dive into Roon and also added the Meitner Audio MA3 streaming DAC, which now sits defiantly next to my VPI Prime Signature turntable.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 December 2023

When last we met, I described my experience of building a Roon ROCK (Roon Optimized Core Kit) server and setting up Roon as my music-streaming software in my home. I got as far as installing the ROCK and Roon clients on my laptop and phone, attaching an external drive and cataloging my music, and getting the thing working with my Logitech Squeezebox Touch streamer.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 November 2023

I’ve become dangerously comfortable in my reviewing life. My main system is fed by one source—my VPI Prime Signature turntable. Occasionally new ’tables come and go, and the phono stage changes too. Cartridges flow through here also. But no matter how I take it apart, no matter how I break it down, that single analog source is a consistent feature.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 October 2023

As this editorial goes live, it’s October 1, and that means in a little over three weeks I’ll be on a plane to Warsaw to cover Audio Video Show 2023, to be held October 27 to 29. This will be my fourth visit to this show and I’m stoked.

: Written by: Jason Thorpe; Category: Opinion; Created: 01 September 2023

I really only have one review system, and that’s the big rig down in the basement. It’s LP-based, and I’ve never had a streamer, DAC, or CD player sending those filthy bits down its virginal, analog pathways.